19. The Roman Empire Did Not Actually Fall in 476 AD
The year 476 AD is commonly assumed to be, and is widely accepted as, the traditional end date for the Western Roman Empire, as well as the end of Ancient Rome. It is a false assumption. The Western Roman Empire’s end was not abrupt: it was a gradual process. In 476, contemporaries hardly noticed that anything special had happened. What did actually happen that year was that a military strongman, Odoacer, beat another military strongman, Orestes, to become the power behind the throne.
It was not a big deal: by then, Western Roman emperors had long since been reduced to puppets. After his victory, Odoacer forced Orestes’ son, the sixteen-year-old Emperor Romulus Augustulus, to abdicate. Augustulus’ imperial regalia was then sent to the other Roman emperor in Constantinople, who confirmed Odoacer as ruler of Italy in the now-sole Roman Emperor’s name. On the ground, little changed in Italy or the rest of the Western Roman Empire. Most people who lived in 477 would not have noticed anything particularly different from 476.
